A project designed during the Bush Administration to stem the flow of illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexican border has now fallen on hard times, and formerly supportive lawmakers are now hinting of a dim future for the virtual fence. Thad Bingel, a former Chief of Staff at Customs and Border Protection, explains what's at stake.

The virtual fence, better known as SBInet, was originally proposed by the Bush Administration to monitor the southern U.S. border with Mexico. But now, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are quickly losing patience with a project that has had a troubled history, while hemorrhaging hundreds of millions of dollars in costs.

New survey results released by the Senior Executive Association show there is a lot of interest among many federal employees when it comes to applying for the Senior Executive Service, but more can be done by the federal government and Congress to make SES positions attractive.